BISD to get new board

The 9th Court of Appeals has ruled on behalf of petitioners Linda Gilmore, Donna Forgas and Marcelino Rodriguez, who were asking the court to rule that the Beaumont Independent School District be ordered to place their names on the upcoming May school board election ballot.

Justices of the court held that BISD could not proceed with an unconstitutional election map dating back to 2001, which was found to defy the "one man, one vote" concept established by the laws of this country.The 9th Court justices also ruled that since current BISD trustees who had remaining time in office had not placed their names on the ballot to run for their seats, as provided in the Texas Election Code, their names would not be considered for the May election. The ruling means current trustees Terry Williams, Zenobia Bush and Woodrow Reece would be removed from office and replaced with that of the only persons filing before the March 1 deadline.

"Justice was done today for all Beaumont voters, and I mean all. BISD's attempt to corruption the election process failed, " said Vann de Cordova, attorney for Gilmore, Forgas and Rodriguez.